ROBERTO MANCINI has warned rival Jose Mourinho to keep his nose out of Manchester City business.

Mourinho taunted Mancini in midweek by noting that he would be hounded out of Spain if Real Madrid failed to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League for two years running like City.

He then patronised Mancini by adding that he was glad City had such a patient owner in Sheikh Mansour.

Mancini, who is preparing for tomorrow’s clash with Chelsea, one of Mourinho’s former clubs, was not impressed by his words: saying: “Mourinho is not my chairman. He is not my owner. What Mourinho said is, for me, not interesting. He wants to talk about everything. For me, it is not important.”

There is no love lost between the two men. Mancini has always suspected that Mourinho was lined up to replace him at Inter long before he was actually sacked, in 2008. The two men did not shake hands nor share a drink after Real’s 1-1 draw at the Etihad on Wednesday.

He wants to talk about everything. For me, it is not important

Roberto Mancini

Mourinho has made it clear he would love to return to England and if Sheikh Mansour does tire of Mancini, he would be a leading candidate to replace him. But Mancini remains confident his job is safe, despite City’s early exit from Europe, and appreciates the backing he receives from the club’s hierarchy – especially in the week that his Italian compatriot Roberto Di Matteo was sacked by Chelsea just six months after winning a Champions League and FA Cup double.

He added: “Sometimes other managers like to talk about us. It could be that they are jealous.

“I don’t know the Chelsea situation. All I can say is that I am happy to work with my owners and my chairman . They understand the situation. They know it is impossible to win every game. ”

Mancini accepts City’s failure in Europe has increased the pressure on him to ensure they retain the Premier League title and do well in the FA Cup.

But he pointed to their 18-match unbeaten run in league action – 12 matches this season following on from the final six last season – as evidence that the wheels are not about to come off.

He added: “Sometimes I think people forget that we are not only top but have not lost a league game for a long time.

“This is because we are Manchester City, not Real Madrid, Manchester United or Bayern Munich, who are used to winning every season for 100 years and have big history.

“We are Manchester City and for 35 years we didn’t win anything. In the past two years we won three trophies. That is good for us .”

Mancini has sympathy for Di Matteo but fears Chelsea, rivals for silverware, could be lifted by the appointment of Rafa Benitez, who he revealed rang him three years ago for advice about taking the Inter job, which lasted just six months before he was sacked.

Mancini said: “ I spoke with him many times before he went to Inter. He asked me a few things about them. You need to be strong to work there because Inter is a top club in Italy.

“I think that he is a good manager. He won trophies in Spain, in England .

“Usually, when a team changes its manager that makes it very difficult for their opponents in the next match. And I expect that will be the case for us on Sunday.”

What will make it even more difficult for City is the absence of their skipper and defensive kingpin Vincent Kompany, who does not look likely to recover from the knee injury sustained against Real.